Regenerator for securing a uniform temperature in steel ingots



(Nd Model.)

' J. REESE. REGENERATOR FOB. SECURING A UNIFORM TEMPERATURE IN STEEL I NGOT-S.

Patented Jan,- 9, 1883.

IJNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

JACOB REESE, OF PITTSBURG, PENNSYLVANIA.

REGENERATOR FOR SECURING A UNIFORM TEMPERATURE lN STEEL INGOTS.

SPECIFICATION forming part of .Letters- Patent No. 270,249, dated January 9, 1883.

Application filed October 20, 1882. (No model.) I

To aZ-l whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, JACOB REESE, acitizen of the United States, residing at Pittsburg, in the county of Allegheny and State of Pennsylvania, have invented a new and usefulImprovement in Regenerators for Securing a Uniform and Desirable Temperature in Steel Ingots; andI hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description thereof, reference being had, to the drawings forming a part thereof.

I use the term regenerator to indicate the device for the reason that the heatof the chamber is maintained by the heat given off from the ingot. Another term which may be used is 5 etpializing-tunnel.

The object in view is to facilitate and cheapen the blooming of steel ingots; and to this end I transfer the ingot, after having stripped it of Figure l is a side view of my improved ingot -regenerator plant, part in section, when placedabove ground. Fig. 2 is a side 'view of my ingot regenerator plant, part in section, when placed under ground. Fig. 3 is a view of my false ingot. v r 1 Likeletters refer to like parts where they occur.

I will now proceed to describe my invention a more specifically, so that others skilled in the art to which it appertainsmay apply the same.

In the drawings, a is the inner metal walls of the regenerator or equalizing-tunnel. bis the outer non-conducting lining. a are the ingots in transit through the regenerator or equalizing-tunnel. d is the hydraulic ram. 0 is the rampiston. f is the hopper, through whichthe ingots are inserted into the regeneratororequalizing-tunnel. g is the hopper-lid. his a stopper for-closing the end of the regenerator or equalizing-tunnel when the ram-piston is withdrawn. 7; is the lid, covering the end of the regenerator or equalizing-tunnel,through which the ingots are delivered. on is the floorline. n is the blooming-mill table. 0 is the furnace for the initial heating of the regenerator or equalizing-tunnel. p is the flue leading from the furnace. to the regenerator or equalizingtunnel. q is the stack, with the adjustable flue r, for taking away the gases from the re generator orequalizing-tunnelduringitsinitial heating.

In the practice of this improvement in a Bessemer-steel plant, having a capacity to produce six hundred tons of rails per day of twenty-four hours, when three-rail ingots are made the ingots will be about twelve inches square and nearly five feet long, eighty ingots per hour will be produced,andasitisnecessarythattheingots should remain in the regenerator or equalizingtunnel from twenty to thirty minutes for such a plant, I construct the regenerator or equalizing-tunnel of sufficient capacity to hold forty ingots, and aseach ingot is five feet long the length of the regenerator or equalizingtunnel will be five by forty, or two hundred feet in length, and of sufficient internal cross-section to permit the ingots to pass freely through it. Where the passage is straight it need not be more than one inch larger than the ingot; but where it deflects, sufficient room should be provided to allow the ingots to pass forward freely. I

lhe regenerator or equalizing-tunnel may be constructed of any suitable material; butIprefer to construct its internal shell of steel, with walls of about two inches thick. .This shell should be surrounded by a wall of fire-brick, fireclay, or some other good non-conductor-of heat, and the whole protected from rain or dampness from any source.- These non-conducting outside walls may be made of fire-brick, asbestus, or mineral wool; but in any casethey should be made of sufficient thickness, so as to prevent the heat from escaping as far as possible.

'At the converting-house end of the'regenerator or equalizing-tunnel a furnace should off the waste gases. At the converting-house end of the regenerator or equalizing-tunnel it is provided with a hydraulic ram for pushing the ingots through, and near this end is placed a hopper, having an opening of sufficient size to drop the ingots down into the regenerator or equalizing-tunnel. When this hopper is not used for dropping the ingots in, it is tightly closed with a door or cap.

When this ingot regenerator or equalizingtnnnel is so constructed, with its trout end within reach of the converting-house ingotcrane, and its rear end reaching to the blooming-mill table, the lid '5 is thrown back, the gas-flue r is placed over the regenerator, the furnace 0 is fired up, and the products of combustion are forced throughtheregenerator until it is properly heated. The gas-flue r is then detached, and the lid 6 is lowered, the blowing of the furnace is discontinued, the furnace-flue s detached, and the regenerator is ready for work.

A heat of metal having been blown and cast into ten or more ingots, the ingots, after being stripped of the mold, are taken immediately after casting and dropped into the hopper, with their small end fronting the blooming-mill. The hydraulic ram is then caused to push theingot one lengthforward, the ram is drawn back and another ingot dropped in and pushed forward, and in this mannerthe ten ingots are dropped and pushed forward in the regenerator. The lid orcap of the hopper is then put on and the regenerator kept closed untilthe next heat has been cast, when the operation before described is again practiced,

f til the regenerator is fully charged.

and so is the practice continued atintervals un- When the regenerator is fully charged and the ingots appear at the front end ready for rolling, the roller telegraphs to the engineer in charge of the hydraulic ram for an ingot. If an ingot is ready to be dropped in, it is so done, and by pushing it forward all the ingots in the regenerator are pushed one length ahead,-and in doing so an ingot is pushed out of the front end. In passing out it raises the cap and escapes forward on the rollers. The cap t closes and the ingot enters the blooming-rolls and is bloomed in the usual manner. When this is done the roller telegraphs for another ingot, and does so whenever he wants one. When the roller telegraphs for an ingot, and the engineer at the other end has no ingot to putin, he then drops in a false ingot, such as shown in Fig. 3, and by pushing this false ingot forward the hot ingot is delivered at the other end. By this means'the ingots may be delivered to the blooming-mill in regularity as required. When a false ingot escapes from the regenerator or equalizing-tunnel at the blooming-mill it is drawn aside and placed on a truck and returned to the charging end.

The false ingots may be made by riveting two plates on the ends of four bars, or they may be made as hollow steel ingots. The

skeleton form of the ingot permits the pas- I sage past it and free circulation of the nonoxidizing gases employed to protect the ingots from oxidation.

Should the blooming-mill not take the ingots as fast as they are made and taken from the pit, the hopper may be made so as to retain ten or more ingots one above the other, and by this means the ram may push the bottom ingotforward at such intervals as required, while the ingots may be dropped in as fast as they can be taken from the pit.

When the ingots are taken from the mold in which they are cast the outside has been hardened and cooled by coming in contact with the cold ingot-mold, but the metal on the inside of the ingotis still in a molten state. Now, it the outside temperature is 1,000 Fahrenheit to the depth of half an inch, andv the remainder is 4,000 Fahrenheit, a tWelve-inch-square ingot weighingeighteen hundred pounds would contain more-than sufficient heat, if properly distributed, to possess a uniform temperature of 2,500 Fahrenheit, so that when the ingots are. placed in the regenerator or equalizingtunnel the outside abstracts heat from the walls of the regenerator and from the highlyheated air, and as the center solidifies the heat tor or'equalizing-tunnel it has assumed a uni-.

form temperature throughout its entire body and'is in proper condition for blooming without the use of any fuel for reheating. When a temperature not exceeding 1,500 Fahrenheit is required in the ingots for blooming, castiron will be suitable for the inner walls, but when the temperature of the ingot is required to exceed that degree the inner walls should be made ofsteel, low in carbon, which will resist a temperature of 2,500 to 3,000 Fahrenheit without injury.

' 1n the ordinary practice of reheating ingots there is a loss by oxidation of two and a half per cent. When the ingots cost forty (40) dollars per ton this waste amounts to one dollar per ton. By the use of my ingot-regenerator the greater part of this loss is avoided and in order to prevent the loss of oxidation altogether, Iforce the vapor of petroleum, carbonic oxide, or other carbonated vapor into the regenerator, so as to keep itoontinuousl y charged with a non-oxidizing gas. By this means the oxidation of the metal is entirely prevented,

IIO

as new and useful, and desire to secure by Let- I nel having openings for receiving and disters Patent, is-

1. In a plant for casting, transferring, and

blooming ingots, the combination of a castingpit, a blooming-mill, and an interposed ingot transfer-tunnel provided with devices, substantially as described, for forcing the ingots in succession from the pit to the rolls, substantially. as and for the purpose specified.

2. In a plant for casting, transferring, and blooming ingots, the combination of a castingpit, a blooming-mill, and an interposed ingotcharging the ingots, and provided. with a gas inlet, substantially as and for the purpose specified.

4. The combination, with an equalizing-tunnel having a non-conducting covering or shell, and an inlet and outlet, of a'furnacedetachably connected therewith, substantially as and for the purpose specified.

5. The combination, with an equalizing-tunnel or regenerator having a non-conducting covering or shell, of a furnace detachablly connected therewith, and a hydraulic rain, arranged at the furnace end of the tunnel.

6. A false ingot of skeleton form, substan- 5 

